Lawncare apparatus

ABSTRACT

A lawncare apparatus includes a main body, multiple wheels supporting the main body, a cutting blade disposed in the main body, a motor driving the cutting blade, and an operating arm connected to the first end of the main body. The distance in the horizontal direction between the axial central line of the cylindrical gripping portion of the operating arm and the axes of the elongated handle of the main body along the length direction is less than 5 cm. Because of the structure mate relationship between the operating arm and the cylindrical gripping portion, the operator feels more comfortable during the transporting process, the volume of lawncare apparatus during transporting is reduced and the convenience of transporting is improved.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/048,158, filed Oct. 8, 2013, which applicationclaims the benefit of CN 201210387914.9, filed on Oct. 15, 2012, and CN201220602040.X, filed on May 3, 2013, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject disclosure relates to garden tools and, more particularly,to a lawncare apparatus.

BACKGROUND

A commonly used lawncare apparatus, such as a walk-behind lawnmower,includes a cutting device, a deck supporting the cutting device, achassis having four wheels to which the deck is mounted, and a handlefor pushing a main body of the lawncare apparatus disposed at one end ofthe chassis.

When using the lawnmower, there are two ways to transport the lawnmowerfrom a storage room to a lawn. The first way is to place the four wheelson the ground and push/pull the lawnmower. The second way is to lift thelawnmower away from the ground. The first way requires a large storageroom and the second way requires that the lawnmower is of light weight.That is, the way to transport the lawnmower from the storage room to thelawn needs to he improved.

SUMMARY

The following will describe a lawncare apparatus which can improveoperating comfort of the operator, reduce volume of the lawncareapparatus during transporting and/or storage, and further improveconvenience of transporting.

To achieve the above object, a described lawncare apparatus includes amain body, a plurality of wheels supporting the main body, a cuttingblade disposed in the main body, a motor driving the cutting blade, andan operating arm connected to the first end of the main body, wherein anelongated handle is disposed on the second end of the main body which isaway from the operating arm. The operating arm includes a cylindricalgripping portion and the operating arm can he folded to a foldedposition. When the operating arm is at the folded position and themultiple wheels contacts the level surface, the distance in thehorizontal direction between the axial central line of the cylindricalgripping portion and the axes of the elongated handle along the lengthdirection is less than 5 cm.

To achieve the above object, another described lawncare apparatusincludes a main body, a plurality of wheels supporting the main body, acutting blade disposed in the main body, a motor driving the cuttingblade, an operating arm connected to a first end of the main body, andan elongated handle positioned on a second end of the main body which isaway from the operating arm. The operating arm is capable of beingfolded to a folded position and the internal profile of the operatingarms is mated with the external profile of the elongated handle suchthat the operating arm at the folded position is clearance fitted withthe elongated handle.

The lawncare apparatus of the invention can be pulled obliquely.Further, because of the structure mate relationship between theoperating arm and the cylindrical gripping portion, the operator willfeel more comfortable during the transporting process and the volume ofthe lawncare apparatus during transporting is reduced, and further, theconvenience of transporting is improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic, isometric view showing an exemplary lawncareapparatus constructed according to the description which follows whereinan operating arm is folded.

FIG. 2 is a side schematic view showing the exemplary lawncare apparatusof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an exemplary safety switch assemblyof the lawncare apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side schematic view showing the lawncare apparatus of FIG. 1in a storage position.

FIG. 5 is a side schematic view showing the lawncare apparatus of FIG. 1in an obliquely disposed, pulling position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will be described below in details with reference to thedrawings and preferred embodiments thereof.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in the illustrated embodiment, thelawncare apparatus is a hand push lawnmower. The lawncare apparatusincludes a main body 1, a first pair of wheels 11 and a second pair ofwheels 12 supporting the main body 1, a cutting blade disposed in themain body 1, a motor driving the cutting blade, and an operating arm 2connected to the first end (rear end) of the main body 1. The first pairof wheels 11 and the second pair of wheels 12 are disposed respectivelyat the second end (front end) and the first end (rear end) of the mainbody I. The operating arm 2 is pivotally connected to the rear end ofthe main body 1 by a pivot shaft 22 and positioned above the second pairof wheels 12. The front end of the main body 1, which is away from theoperating arm 2, includes an elongated to handle 13. In the illustratedembodiment the elongated handle 13 is substantially cylinder-shaped andincludes an axis Z2 along the longitude direction. The operating arm 2includes a cylindrical gripping portion 23 and can be folded to a foldedposition, and the cylindrical gripping portion 23 includes an axialcentral line Z1.

When the operating arm is at the folded position and the first pair ofwheels 11 and the second pair of wheels 12 both contact the horizontalsurface F, if the gripping portion 23 is above the handle 13, thedistance d1 in the vertical direction between the axial central line Z1and the axis Z2 along the longitude direction is greater than the sum ofthe radius of the gripping portion 23 and the radius of thecylinder-shaped handle 13, and the distance d1 is less than 5 cm. Forexample, the diameters of the gripping portion 23 and thecylinder-shaped handle 13 are both 1.5 cm, then the distance d1 is atleast greater than 1.5 cm. Preferably, the distance d1 is 3 cm, and adistance d2 in the horizontal direction between the axial central lineZ1 and the axis Z2 is also less than 5 cm, and in the illustratedembodiment, the distance d2 is preferably 0.5 Therefore, when theoperating arm 2 is at the folded position, the user can grip both thegripping portion 23 and the cylinder-shaped handle 13 conveniently.

Additionally, in an alternative embodiment, to allow the user to gripboth the gripping portion 23 and the cylinder-shaped handle 13 moreconveniently, the internal profile of the gripping portion 23 is matedwith the external profile of the cylinder-shaped handle 13, such thatwhen the operation arm 2 is at the folded position, the outer surface ofthe gripping portion 23 and the cylinder-shaped handle 13 contact witheach other. At this time, the gripping portion 23 and thecylinder-shaped handle 13 can lie in a horizontal plane, the distance d2in the horizontal direction between the axial central line Z1 and theaxis Z2 is larger than the sum of the radius of the gripping portion 23and the radius of the cylinder-shaped handle 13, and the distance d1 iszero. It should be noted that the external profile of the grippingportion 23 may be designed to mate with the internal profile of thecylinder-shaped handle 13.

To allow the user to grip both the gripping portion 23 and thecylinder-shaped handle 13 more stably, a clip K is disposed on thehandle 13. When the operation arm is at the folded position, the clip Kis engaged with the cylindrical gripping portion 23.

Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the operating arm 2 isextendable., and a safety switch assembly 240 is disposed in theoperating arm 2, the operating arm 2 includes an inner pipe 25 and anouter pipe 21, the outer pipe 21 is rotatably connected to the rear endof the main body 1 by the pivot shaft 22, and the end of the outer pipe21 includes a pipe sleeve 24.

Referring to FIG. 3, the safety switch assembly 240 is disposed in thesleeve pipe 24 and a safety shift structure 25 a is disposed in theinner pipe 25. The safety switch assembly 240 includes a safety switch241 and a trigger assembly 242 configured to trigger the safety switch241 when the safety shift structure 25 a of the inner pipe 25 isdisengaged from a safety location and reset the safety switch 241 whenthe safety shift structure 25 a returns to the safety location. Thesafety switch 241 is electrically connected to a control circuit forcontrolling the motor in the main body 1.

In the embodiment, the trigger assembly 242 is a contacting springsheet. One end of the contacting spring sheet is connected to the safetyswitch 241 and the other end is a free end. When the inner pipe 25slides, the wall of the inner pipe 25 presses the contacting springsheet to trigger the safety switch 241. The the contacting spring sheet242 is formed with elasticity. When the inner pipe 25 slides, the safetyshift structure 25 a moves back to the safe position and, at this time,the safety shift structure 25 a is within a receiving groove configuredto accommodate the contacting spring sheet, and the contacting springsheet 242 is out of outer force and will not trigger the safety switch241.

When the inner pipe 25 is retracted into the outer pipe 21, the safetyshift structure 25 a leaves the safe position and the wall of the innerpipe 25 presses the contacting spring sheet 242 to trigger the safetyswitch. At this time, even during the transporting process, if the useroperates the operating switch by mistake, the motor cannot be started,which can reduce the possibility of danger happening to the user.

Additionally, referring to FIG. 2 again, when the lawnmower is at theusing position, the first pair wheels 11 and the second pair wheels 12are supported on the supporting surface F. If light is shining from adirection perpendicular to the supporting surface F, the main body 1 ofthe lawnmower projects a first orthographic projection on the supportingsurface F. Referring to FIG. 4, the lawnmower is at the storageposition. When the lawnmower is stored, the lawnmower stands uprightlyfor storing in a storage room and the operating arm 2 is folded and onlythe second wheels 2 are supported on the supporting surface F. Forimproving stability, a supporting portion 26 is disposed on the mainbody 1 for supporting on the supporting surface F, and the supportingportion can be integrated with or separated from the main body 1. In thesame way, at this time if light is shining from a directionperpendicular to the supporting surface F, the main body 1 of thelawnmower projects a second orthographic projection on the supportingsurface F. Since the width of the lawnmower at the using position is thesame as that of the lawnmower at the storage position, and the distanceD1 between he first pair wheels 11 and the second pair wheels 12 islarger than the distance D2 between the first pair of wheels 11 and thesupporting portion 26, the first orthographic projection area of thelawnmower at the using position is larger than the second orthographicprojection area of the lawnmower at the storage position.

Referring to FIG. 5, when the lawnmower is changed from the usingposition to the obliquely pulled position, only the second pair wheels12 contact the supporting surface and the hands of the user grip a pullportion which is perferably the cylindrical gripping portion 23. At thistime, the operating arm 2 is at the folded position, the distance of thegripping portion 23 relative to the supporting surface F is H; thedistance of the gripping portion 23 relative to the point the secondpairs wheels 12 contacting the supporting surface F is L, and the ratioof H to L may be 0.5˜1, preferably 0.8˜0.9, for meeting the needs ofergonomics. Therefore, when pulling the lawnmower, only part of theweight of the lawnmower is supported by the user, which makes the userfeel more labor-saving.

From the above, the described lawncare apparatus can be pulledobliquely, and because of the structure mate relationship between theoperating arm and the cylindrical gripping portion, the user can feelmore comfortable during transporting and the pulling process is morestable, so that the volume of the lawncare apparatus during transportingis reduced and the operability of lawnmower pulling is improved. Since asafety switch mechanism is disposed on the operating arm, misoperationof the lawncare apparatus can be avoided and safety of pulling isimproved.

The general principle, primary features and advantages of the inventionhave been illustrated and described above. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the foregoing embodiments are not intended to limit theinvention in any form and technical implementations derived with equalsubstitutions or equivalent variations shall be considered as fallingwithin the scope of the claimed invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lawn care apparatus, comprising: a main body; aplurality of wheels supporting the main body; a cutting blade disposedin the main body; a motor supported by the main body and drivinglyconnected to the cutting blade; a control circuit for controllingoperation of the motor; an operating arm connected to the main body, theoperating arm comprising a first member and a second member wherein thefirst member will move relative to the second member and in a directionthat is towards the main body in response to the operating arm beingsubjected to a first force that is in the direction that is towards themain body; and a safety assembly for triggering the control circuit tocause the control circuit to disable operation of the motor, wherein thesafety assembly is positioned relative to the first member such that thesafety assembly is caused to trigger the control circuit when the firstmember is moved towards the main body to a predetermined positionrelative to the second member.
 2. The lawn care apparatus as recited inclaim 1, wherein the safety assembly provides a second force upon thefirst member to inhibit the first member from being moved towards themain body to the predetermined position relative to the second member.3. The lawn care apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the safetyassembly comprises a moveable element that is biased towards the firstmember and wherein the moveable element provides the second force uponthe first member.
 4. The lawn care apparatus as recited in claim 3,wherein the moveable element is rotatably moveable.
 5. The lawn careapparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein the moveable element comprisesa rounded end that engages with the first member.
 6. The lawn careapparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the safety assembly is mountedto the second member.
 7. The lawn care apparatus as recited in claim 1,wherein the first member has a first surface portion and a secondsurface portion, wherein the second surface portion is radially closerto a longitudinal axis of the first member than the first surfaceportion, and wherein the first portion defines the predeterminedposition relative to the second member.
 8. The lawn care apparatus asrecited in claim 7, wherein the first member has an angled surface thatprovides a transition from the second surface portion to the firstsurface portion.
 9. The lawn care apparatus as recited in claim 1,wherein the safety assembly comprises a trigger switch.
 10. The lawncare apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the safety assembly isreset and wherein the control circuit enables operation of the motorwhen the first member is moved from the predetermined position relativeto the second member in a direction that is away from the main body. 11.The lawn care apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the safetyassembly continues to cause it the control circuit to disable operationof the motor when the first member is moved from the predeterminedposition relative to the second member in a direction that is towardsthe main body.
 12. The lawn car apparatus as recited in claim 1, whereinthe safety assembly is electrically connected to the control circuit.13. The lawn care apparatus as recited in claim 12, wherein the controlcircuit is electrically connected to the motor.
 14. The lawn careapparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the first member comprises apipe.
 15. The lawn care apparatus as recited in claim 14, wherein thesecond member comprises a pipe.
 16. The lawn care apparatus as recitedin claim 15, wherein the first member is disposed at least in partwithin the second member.
 17. The lawn care apparatus as recited inclaim 1, wherein the second member is rotatably attached to the mainbody.